Pakistani cuisine
The Pakistani cuisine includes many regionally different dishes and is partly similar to the North Indian cuisine . Due to population and religion, however, it is more meat-heavy than Indian cuisine.
General
Everyday dishes are, similar to India, dal (made from different lentils or chickpeas ), curries made from different vegetables (e.g. bitter melon , aubergines , cauliflower , potatoes , okra pods ) with and without meat, rice and different types of bread (roti) such as chapati , an unleavened thin flatbread, naan , a flat yeast bread, often coated with butter or ghee , or puri , a very thin flatbread baked in fat. Important spices in addition to the spice mixtures garam masala and curry especially coriander seeds , chillies , pepper , cloves , bay leaves , cinnamon , green cardamom , cumin and dried chilli flakes rough. Yoghurt or raita, pimples called achar (vegetables and fruits pickled in hot spices, such as carrots, ginger, unripe mangoes and limes) or chutneys made from crushed coriander leaves or mint with or without yoghurt are also popular with the dishes .
Onions, garlic and ginger form the basis for every curry dish. Before serving, fresh coriander, sometimes also dried fenugreek leaves - called methi - is sprinkled over the food. Meat is either fried with spices or cooked in a hot sauce. Minced meat is prepared as a hot stew or as a kebab on a skewer and fried over an open flame. Popular is a hot soup made from the whole foot (hoof to ankle) of a cow or sheep, known as paye. Liver, lungs and rumen, as well as the head of ruminants, are also used in dishes. Rice is served as a side dish or cooked with spices and meat or vegetables as biryani , a varied rice dish. In Khichri , too , it forms the basis together with various lenses.
Cutlery is largely avoided; people eat with the right hand. As a rule, cooking is done with a gas stove or over an open fire.
beverages
Milk tea (sweet or spicy) and green tea , called kava, are just as popular with food as lassi . Water, mixed with sugar and rose water syrup , is also popular, along with soft drinks and a variety of juices. There are also various spicy and sweet milk variants, some of which are refined with almonds, pistachios or dried fruits such as raisins or dates. Due to the ban on alcohol for religious reasons, alcoholic beverages can only be found in licensed bars.
breakfast
Often only a little bread or rusk, a kind of rusk dipped in milk tea, is eaten for breakfast. In addition to the milk tea, halva puri and cooked chickpeas are especially served .
In addition, the varied Paratha is very popular. This unleavened bread is rolled out thinly and filled with spicy contents; for example with minced meat, chopped vegetables or chickpeas, but also with sweet fillings. Paratha is fried in oil in a pan. Often the filling is already pre-cooked, and remnants of sauce-free curry are often used as a filling.
As a sweet breakfast, there is also a type of vermicelli, called semiya, in sweet milk.
Desserts
Similar to neighboring India, Pakistan has a variety of desserts, such as khir (a semolina or rice pudding refined with almonds and pistachios) or halwa (particularly popular with carrots), Shahi Tukra (a sweet casserole) and firni (an almond -Rice dessert). There are countless variations of sweet confectionery, from sticky sweet to slightly spicy, for example Kulfi (a type of ice cream), Burfi, Laddu (small balls made from chickpea flour), or the fat pastries Ghulam Jamun and Jalebi. Cardamom is used in almost all desserts, and often cinnamon.
Cookies - often not too sweet and slightly spiced - are also popular and are often eaten with chai.
On road
When out and about, kebabs (grilled, spicy pieces of meat or skewered minced meat), samosa , spicy dumplings, or pakora , vegetables wrapped in chickpea flour that is fried in fat, are eaten as well as dishes from the tandori . Many street kitchens also offer very time-consuming dishes that take several hours to cook, such as Haleem.
Influences from other regions
Pakistani cuisine is regionally influenced by its neighbors: Afghanistan, Persia and Central and Western Asia. For example, many Afghan dishes such as pilafs are cooked in the western mountain region , while in the border area with India there are many vegetable curries. In Kashmir on the border with China, its influence is with noodle dishes and soups as well as sweet and spicy food.
As in other countries in the world, there is also a fast food culture with burgers, pizza and pasta and ready-made meals of all kinds.
Regional differences
While more bread is eaten as a side dish in the north and the dishes are not as spicy, in the south rice is preferred and the dishes are seasoned with more chilli. In addition, the cuisine in the south and on the Indus is more fish-heavy. In general: the warmer the climate, the spicier the food, in the Sindh region around Karachi a lot of green and red chilli are used, while in the north and in the western mountain regions the food is rather moderately spicy. In Pakistani restaurants in Europe there is often an adaptation to local taste and spiciness, but small snacks are also served originally spicy.
Far more fruit is consumed in the fertile Panjab region than in the rest of the country.
Differences to Indian cuisine
In contrast to India, meat consumption is less restricted here. Small poultry as well as lamb and goat are particularly popular, as are larger poultry and beef. Only the use of pork is not found because of the high Muslim proportion of the population. Strict vegetarians are rarely found, then among the Hindu minority or the Sikh.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Ten culinary highlights from Pakistan - Pakistan portal. Retrieved on April 18, 2018 (German).
- ↑ Get to know the Pakistani cuisine! - some typical dishes . In: Fresh ideas for the interior, decoration and landscape . March 23, 2016 ( freshideen.com [accessed April 19, 2018]).
- ↑ The Cuisine of Pakistan
- ↑ Pakistan Worth knowing: Eating and drinking :: GORUMA. Retrieved April 18, 2018 .
- ↑ Asfahani, N .: Pakistani Cuisine: Eating like in Food Street in Lahore . Ed .: Asfahani, N.
- ↑ Food and drink in Pakistan. Retrieved April 18, 2018 .
literature
- Daniel Krasa: Travel Know-How phrasebook Urdu for India and Pakistan - word for word: Kauderwelsch-Volume 112. Reise Know-How Verlag Peter Rump GmbH. 1st edition 2001, pages 104 to 116, ISBN 3-89416-301-1